Packing up after a nice slow start to the day we made our way back to Kyoto Station to catch the train to Osaka. There was an option for the bulletin train but we chose the JR Special Rapid which meant we could use our prepaid Suica card. It is only a short trip and was around $5 NZD.
Once again a train was there when we arrived at the platform. After experiencing Shinjuku Station in Tokyo which is the busiest train station in the world these smaller stations are a breeze.
Osaka is a large and very modern looking city with tall skyscrapers and lots of greenery, some on the ground and some incorporated into the buildings.
Our hotel, The Westin, has a shuttle service and remember we sent our large luggage ahead so we only had small cases therefore it was easy walking through the station. Google gave us excellent directions on where to find the shuttle and it had just arrived and we jumped on.
The Westin Hotel is located in Umeda and is close to restaurants and the huge Grand front shopping area. Walking into the lobby we found this to be the ‘poshest’ of our hotels so far. Our room is huge by Japanese standards with a sofa and small table and chairs and we look out to see the Umeda tower which actually reflects our hotel and I could see myself looking out the window! And our cases were here waiting for us.
Our first stop was the mall and we particularly wanted to find Jin’s to purchase glasses. The 15 minute walk was hard work as it was blistering hot and humid with no breeze and we arrived at the air conditioned mall dripping! Unfortunately I couldn’t get and glasses because it takes a week to have progressives made. But Lance got 2 new pair of reading glasses made for $100 each as well as a consultation with the optometrist.
This part of the mall was quite expensive and we wandered into an adjoining tower through a department store that was jam packed full of stuff from makeup to wine fridges to shower heads! It was really tricky finding an exit and then we worried that we would be miles away from our hotel. We finally made it out and had only a 15 minute walk, but again, the heat was intense.
After an unpack, shower and a rest, Oh and for Lance watching the Warriors beat the Bunnies, we grabbed a cab and headed for Dotonbori
Dotonbori is famous for its food and nightlife, it runs between two canals and reminded me of looking down Times Square.
Narrow fronted restaurants have huge 3D characters, some of which are quite iconic, for instance the Gilco running man. Which we didn’t find, we only found a running cow.
We made a couple of stops to have a bite and found the Hozenji Temple down a little street.It was such a contrast to the madness only a few metres away.
Crossing one of the bridges we saw a woman with a cat. The cat was fast asleep on the bridge handrail and was wearing a small sombrero. Many people were stopping to pat it as it slept and she had a little dish for donations. I wonder if it was drugged, it was a real cat, but there was not even a tail twitch?
Actually Dotonbori was somewhere that we were excited to visit and had watched loads of YouTube on it. It is somewhere that you need to see but we were both underwhelmed and were ready to leave earlier than we thought.
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